By: John Axtell Posted at: 03/05/2019 11:34 AMLINCOLN, Neb. (AP) - For the third straight year, Site Selection magazine has named Nebraska as the winner of the Governor's Cup for having the most economic development projects per capita in the United States last year.

Nebraska had 118 capital investment projects last year, 8 more than in 2017 and 17 more than in 2016.

Site Selection is known as the senior publication in the corporate real estate and economic development fields, and its yearly analyses are regarded by experts as an industry scoreboard.

Governor Pete Ricketts accepted the prestigious award in a ceremony at the state Capitol, saying it "once again confirms that Nebraska is one of the best places in the world to do business."

Ricketts also used the occassion to point out that Nebraska continues to lead the nation in new investment, job creation, and business expansions with a talented workforce, great communities, and outstanding leadership across the state all contributing to what he called "this tremendous victory."

In addition to the top state honors, the Omaha-Council Bluffs metro area repeated as the top in its population group for corporate facilities expansion with the Sioux City metro area 3rd in its population group. Lincoln moved up 5 sports in its group to 4th for most capital investment projects